Police are continuing to investigate a possible murder suicide in the area of Bellamah and Lee's after police were dispatched to a gunshot victim in the area on Wednesday night. Both people were transported to an area hospital and were both pronounced dead, according to officials.

LAS CRUCES >> The night before he was scheduled to face a grand jury, a 70-year-old man abducted his sister-in-law, then fatally shot her and himself Wednesday evening in an apparent murder-suicide that unfolded in the street, before several small children and shocked neighbors near Bellamah and Lee's.

Lisa Cash, 59, and Rick McIntyre, both of Las Cruces, were pronounced dead at an area hospital later that night, according to a Las Cruces police news release issued Thursday afternoon. Both suffered gunshot wounds to the head.

Witnesses told LCPD investigators that McIntyre, who lives in the 1800 block of Ash Avenue, was walking Wednesday evening near Cash's home in the 2200 block of Solar Way, about three miles away.

McIntyre, according to the news release, recently had been under investigation for abuse and sexual assault against a relative of Cash. Family members had accused McIntyre of abusing his wife, an LCPD incident report filed in May states.

Cash, who was on her way to run errands, stopped her Toyota Tacoma so she could talk to McIntyre, officials reported.

That's when, detectives believe, McIntyre forced himself into Cash's pickup at gunpoint. She drove a few blocks, turning onto Bellamah Drive, a witness said. As they argued, McIntyre reported fired his .38-caliber revolver, hitting Cash in the head.

He then got out of the truck and fired a shot into his head.

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To Briana Carbajal, a 19-year-old student watching children play nearby, the gunshots sounded like "kids playing with fireworks."

She said five children, between the ages of 3 and 9, were out playing. One of them told her he saw a man lying in the street.

Later she saw blood on the truck's window.

Cash's death is the second murder case investigated by area law enforcement since Saturday when a teen was shot to death just outside Hatch. It is the fourth area murder of 2013.

Online searches of New Mexico and federal court records revealed no previous convictions or criminal cases against McIntyre.

Cash, according to an LCPD report, was among several people alleging that McIntyre was controlling and abusive to her sister, using her only for money.

Cash told police in May that her sister's health seemed to be declining "since she had been in the relationship" with McIntyre. Doctors had performed numerous tests on the McIntyre's wife, Cash told police, because "they can't figure out what's going on with her."

An LCPD investigator interviewed Cash and another concerned family member at Memorial Medical Center -- somebody at Adult Protective Services had requested a welfare check. McIntyre's wife had been hospitalized for pneumonia and a food-borne illness, according to the report.

Family members suspected that McIntyre had "poisoned" her ice cream, the police report states. He had been angry at his wife, family members told police blaming her for the death of his dog. After being diagnosed with pneumonia, she left medication on the floor. The dog apparently ate the medication then died, according to the report.

McIntyre, family members alleged, physically abused his wife on at least three occasions, pushing and shoving her. But, they suspected, the bulk of the abuse was verbal. One person that spoke to police called McIntyre a "monster."

The couple married in March 2011, according to court records. They separated this May and she filed for divorce in June.

Cash, court records show, served McIntyre with the divorce paperwork.

McIntyre was set to face the grand jury Thursday based on those accusations. Had the grand jury indicted him, LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo said, authorities would have arrested McIntyre.

In some cases, often those with "overwhelming evidence" Trujillo said, police will arrest suspects immediately. Other times, often when the evidence might not be as strong he said, officials will arrest suspects only after an indictment.

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